Daniel's prophecy in Daniel 2 begins with Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is identified as the head of gold, and the great image represents a succession of earthly kingdoms. The prophecy then describes the stone cut without hands, which strikes the image and becomes a great mountain that fills the whole earth (Daniel 2:31-35). The vision begins with Babylon and follows the progression of kingdoms until God establishes an everlasting kingdom that will never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44-45).
If the prophecy begins with Babylon and progresses through successive kingdoms, culminating in the days of the fourth kingdom, traditionally identified as Rome, then it makes sense that the kingdom represented by the stone would be established during the Roman kingdom. Jesus came during that period, proclaimed that the kingdom of God had come near (Mark 1:15), and identified Himself with the rejected stone that became the cornerstone (Matthew 21:42). Peter likewise identified Jesus as that stone in Acts 4:11. This connects Daniel's prophetic timeline with Christ's first coming, rather than requiring the kingdom's initial establishment to be postponed to a distant future.
The stone does not remain a stone; it becomes a great mountain and fills the earth. In this interpretation, Jesus established His kingdom at His first coming, and the mountain represents that same kingdom growing ever since. Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed that grows into a great plant (Matthew 13:31-32), illustrating how something that begins small can grow into something much greater. The kingdom is not a second kingdom waiting to be established in the future, but the everlasting kingdom God established through Christ, advancing toward the worldwide dominion pictured by Daniel's mountain.
Over the centuries, the kingdom's growth can also be considered in light of the enormous number of people who have identified with Christ. One historical demographic study, World Christian Trends, estimated that more than 8.3 billion people had believed in Christ from His time through AD 2000. This is an estimate rather than an exact count, but it illustrates the remarkable historical reach of Christianity. In this interpretation, the spread of the gospel and the growth of Christ's people provide a historical picture consistent with Daniel's vision of the stone becoming a great mountain that fills the earth (Daniel 2:35). - Source: World Christian Trends, AD 30-AD 2000.
Those who argue that Daniel 2:44-45 describes a kingdom that has not yet been established must explain how that interpretation fits the historical appearance and growth of Christianity since Jesus' first coming. If the stone cut without hands represents Christ's kingdom, and that stone has not yet been established, then the establishment of the kingdom Daniel describes would still be entirely future. Yet Jesus proclaimed the kingdom during His earthly ministry, identified Himself with the rejected stone (Matthew 21:42-43), and commissioned His disciples to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Christianity has since spread throughout the world. How can the stone still be waiting to be established when Christ came, His kingdom was proclaimed, and His followers have spread across the earth for nearly two thousand years? In this interpretation, the historical growth of Christianity fits the picture of the stone becoming a great mountain, rather than requiring the kingdom's establishment to be postponed to the future.